Posted on 02/20/2009 8:41:17 AM PST by Tolik
Many have weighed in on Eric Holder's "cowards" slur. He obviously hasn't paid much attention to college campuses, where the obsession with race permeates departments, curricula, hiring, faculty profile, student events, funding, etc. Bumper-sticker identification and hair-trigger readiness to accuse someone of racism to further a particular ideological or even personal agenda are now 30 years old and institutionalized in higher education.
He is right on one count, however — in the university, public schools, journalism at large, the foundations, and politics, there is a reluctance in one aspect to broach the subject. It is absolutely taboo to suggest that personal behavior, particular ingrained attitudes, and pernicious cultural assumptions — far more than contemporary racial oppression — could have contributed to ordinately high rates of drug use, crime, illegitimacy, unemployment, high-school drop-out rates, sexist attitudes toward women, and incarceration among a subset of young African-American males.
One can cite data, and refer to it in the spirit of finding constructive solutions. Yet that will most often result in suffering the slur of racism, given that so many are invested in the industry of racial grievance, as Holder himself has unfortunately demonstrated. It is not encouraging that in the first real public speech, the Attorney General of the United States has denigrated the American people as "cowards."
In that regard, what is cowardly is once again pandering to an audience about race rather than challenging people to transcend race and accept that it should be incidental, not essential, to one's character. More to the point, Holder himself had a teachable moment a few years ago to stand up and talk truth to power when he was asked to participate in a tawdry scheme to pardon a fugitive on the FBI's most-wanted list who had donated amply to the various Clinton political operations. Instead, he voted present.
I hope this is not more of the Carteresque style of blaming the American people. We've already heard from the Energy Czar that we in California have apparently abused our landscape, caused record droughts (still raining and snowing here in California), and so can expect soon to grow no more food, given that we've really used up our agricultural infrastructure rather than miraculously fed the world the last century. Our president has characterized us as "dictating" in the Middle East, in contrast to the Saudi authoritarian's "courage." Our secretary of state has said America too often has been impulsive and ideological. Gorism and 'you did it to yourselves' thinking is already rampant among some science and environmental appointees.
All this moral posturing and incrimination lead to the sort of nemesis we saw with the "highest ethical standards" devolving into Daschle, Geithner, Killefer, Lynch, Richardson, Solis, etc. (and silence about Blago, Burris, Murtha, Rangel etc). Does anyone remember that decades ago, a flip-the-channel collective response met Jimmy Carter every time he put on the cardigan sweater and begin to lecture America about what was wrong with it rather than trying to uplift Americans' spirits to meet new challenges?
I can't help but remember the time when our hero marched right into the Oval Office, looked Clinton squarely in the eye, and said:
"Mr. President, this is just wrong. You can't sell a pardon to an international fugitive who defrauded the United States out of millions of dollars and traded with Iran while Khomeini was holding American hostages. I can't be a part of this. I understand you don't want to hear it, sir, but you need to know the evidence our Justice Department prosecutors have against this guy. And sure, I know his lawyer — our friend Jack Quinn — might get really angry at me and not help make me the next Attorney General. But you know, sometimes when you see something that is just so wrong, you have to have the courage to stand up and be counted. It's like I told you a year ago while I was almost bitterly objecting and nearly thought about threatening to resign when we pardoned those FALN guys to help Hillary's campaign in New York: Though this administration has proudly thought of itself as an ethical melting pot, in things corrupt we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially an administration of cowards."
Like I said, "I'm sure Eric will be a superb AG."
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
This is depressing.
Damn you Holder.
I was making so much progress with my innate racism.
I had even learned to love Lil Wayne like a furry little gremlin.
Amazing that an African-American would say African-Americans are cowards. Surely, he did mean just “whites”, did he?
Holder is such a fraud. Figures that Obama or his handlers would pick this guy.
“
One can cite data, and refer to it in the spirit of finding constructive solutions. Yet that will most often result in suffering the slur of racism, given that so many are invested in the industry of racial grievance, as Holder himself has unfortunately demonstrated.”
VDH ping!
Hanson is correct. This administration is starting to look and sound like Jimmy Carter redux. And for those of you who didn’t live through those days, you are in for a real treat. Not!
What’s really depressing is that this new crowd are going to do such a terrible number on their own country, that the terrorists can simply sit back, wait for the smoke to clear and then waltz in to occupy the wreckage. Obama’s people will wreak far more destruction than AlQaeda ever could. And paint themselves with haloes the whole time.
Depressing.
Bad News Victor, this is exactly who these people are. But we already knew that and that is why we kept mentioning it during the campaign to the consternation of the media who was trying to hide this reality from the public (which they successfully did).
Now that Obama has used guilt to take power, Holder is trying to use it to beat us into submission.
I don’t think it can be said too strongly.
It’s one thing for professional race baiters to come out with this kind of stuff. After all, that’s their profession: race baiting. It’s how they make their livings.
But it’s quite another thing when an Attorney General, second man down from the President in upholding and enforcing the rule of law, comes out with this stuff in his very first public speech.
This is a serious abuse of the office of the Attorney General. He should be fired. Well, of course he won’t be, because that’s why Obama appointed him in the first place. He wanted a corrupt, cowardly race baiter in that position, whose primary purpose is to do what he is told, not to enforce the law and go after dangerous criminals.
VDH nails it!
Be Ever Vigilant!
bttt
The next four years are going to be very colorful!
See the tagline I’ve been running for the last 6-8 months.
Holder is a self promoting pimp. Only missing is the panama hat.
Don't get depressed.
Get Mad
And then,
Don't get mad,
Get Even.
carter was never this bad
not in crter’s wildest dreams could he #$%# up as much as prez ZerO in less than a month.
After getting MAD, then I grow calm. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
For ideas, I watch ‘Hustle’. Check it out (AMC, I think, over here)
If Holder wants massive race wars, he’ll attain his wishes if he keeps this up. The black community should be really pissed right now. We, as a country, have made so much progress. He’ll set it back a 100 years.
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